In a nutshell, how did you get to where you are right now?
Name some of the most important milestones.

Falling in love with surfing and living my passion all my life,
traveling from a young age, never giving up, not conforming,
moving towards the unknown, stoking my curiosity and exploration,
support and mentorship, facing fear, learning from mistakes,
letting go and cultivating my own sense of self-worth to weather
the storms.

The defining moments in my life are those that allowed me to
myself push beyond my comfort zone. Most recently, finding my
voice and my courage, having to reflect deeply on my story and
what I have to give and share with others, and then standing up
in front of an audience of over 2000 people at TEDx Dublin, full of fear and pushing through
that was definitely a milestone.

Another very recent defining moment was in the middle of huge
surf last December 21st at Mullaghmore, were I faced the biggest
waves of my life, and for the first time, I felt like I belonged.
I was still full of fear and awe but I totally let go of
expectations, of the desire for any outcome, I just felt the
power and presence of that moment. It was very liberating and
freeing for me because I was right where I was meant to be.

You are the co-founder of Waves of Freedom, an
initiative that uses surf to create positive social impact and
empower women. According to you, how can sports such as surfing
achieve these goals?

Surfing is more than just a sport, it is a lifestyle and an
art-form synonymous with freedom and creative self-expression.
Waves of Freedom has grown from a belief that the
ocean does not discriminate. Once you get in the water, the rules
and norms of society dissolve and the power of the ocean to
connect and spread happiness is huge. It really comes down to
having the power to finding our own inner truth, or in the words
of the poet Hafiz, “to let your soul unfurl its wings.”

What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome in your
surfer’s career and how did it help you to grow as a person?

Fear, but mostly it was fear of what other people think. I was
led by a sense of what 'should be' rather than what 'must be' and
the expectations that go along with it. The more I follow the
path of what 'must be' - those moments are where you feel a
tugging in your chest, your inner knowing, calling, voice. This
is where you can follow your true passion, doing the thing that
lights you up most of all, the more I was able to let go of that
fear.

What’s next for you?

I believe in life-long learning and personal development and I’ve
recently joined THNK as a participant at their School for
Creative Leadership. My challenge to myself is to actively
practice the values I hold to be most true and using that as the
driving force to create positive change and social good in the
world. A core part of that is helping Waves of Freedom grow into
a global, cross-cultural community of connectivity and bringing
people together through events such as Let’s Make Waves in Bali
this summer.

Some words to youth out there: What advice can you give them
when chasing their dream career?

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.

I don’t make strict plans for the future. Instead, I allow my
future to hold this tremendous sense of possibility and limitless
potential. Sometimes it can feel like there is a lot of pressure
and the challenge seems too great, and times like that I remind
myself that it’s okay to try and fail, because you can always
begin again. Be kind to yourself.